How It Works: Each year, SHIFT’s researchers identify individuals, organizations and initiatives from around the United States that leverage outdoor recreation for conservation gains and evaluate the work on the basis of Impact, Innovation and Replicability. (Criteria details may be found here.) The best examples of these are honored as SHIFT Award Official Selections.

As part of the kick-off to The 2017 SHIFT Festival, eight SHIFT Award finalists who are also 1% for the Planet nonprofit partners have been invited to present their work to an audience that includes 1% for the Planet business members, private and corporate funders, individual donors, and peers. The five-minute presentations will feature the work’s focus, its impact, and a central challenge facing its ongoing success.

Presenters:

TECHNOLOGY

Synopsis: Powderhook’s Digital Mentoring Program has helped thousands of hunting and fishing users get out onto their public lands more often. Powderhook acts as a localized message board, connecting users with a community of hunters and anglers who provide local expertise. Since its launch in September, Powderhook has engaged 120,000 total users and facilitated nearly 20,000 outdoors-related interactions.

To facilitate growth among users, Powderhook has additionally created the Powderhook Event Application Programming Interface (API), a first-of-its-kind, nationwide, outdoor event dataset. The site makes more than 9,000 hunting, shooting, fishing and conservation events accessible via the API. Event hosts include major NGOs such as Ducks Unlimited and National Wild Turkey Federation, state agencies, and businesses. New events are added daily via integrations with their partners, scrapers and APIs.

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

Synopsis: WILDCOAST’s Youth Engagement Programs utilize Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in San Diego County to drive engagement with and education about coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. Students from underserved, park-poor and indigenous communities are engaged in MPA conservation efforts through hands-on, learner-based field activities that include kayaking, surfing, swimming and boating.

To date in 2017, WILDCOAST has successfully engaged more than 7,000 students from across San Diego County in MPA education and stewardship activities. Through pre- and post-course surveys, WILDCOAST has determined that more than 90% of students that complete their programs develop inclinations for stewardship for coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife not previously experienced.

NON-PROFIT LEADERSHIP

Synopsis: Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB) is a Native American-led nonprofit working toward “healing of people and the earth by supporting indigenous communities in protecting their culturally significant ancestral lands.”

UDB established itself in 2011 as a first-of-its-kind Native American organization focused on safeguarding cultural resources and protecting the ecological integrity of ancestral public lands in southeastern Utah. UDB has a ten-person, all-Native Board of Directors (Navajo and Ute), holds a Memorandum of Agreement with the Navajo Nation and Bureau of Land Management, and aims to establish itself as a leader among conservation organizations. UDB’s biggest achievement included designation for the 1,351,849 acre Bears Ears Region as a National Monument in 2016.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

Synopsis: Wylder is the first female-owned and the only Utah-registered B-corp in the state. As a benefit corporation, Wylder’s mission is to create rapid transparency and drive both demand and production towards sustainable and innovative consumerism. They partner with regional and national non-profits to fund solutions to the environmental crisis, and educate their audience on specific campaigns and calls to action. They contribute 2% of revenue to their 501(c)3 partners, and work closely with them to connect people to wildland, educate for human rights, environmental health and ecological justice, cultivate outdoor adventure stewards, and conserve and protect wildland to increase ecosystem diversity and resilience. One third of their marketing is dedicated to sharing the campaigns, missions and initiatives of their non-profit partners.

ADVENTURE ATHLETE

Synopsis: In 2010, Miho produced an award-winning short film called “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins: Gwich’in Women Speak.” This film was created to amplify the Gwich’in women’s voice in the mainstream environmental campaign to protect the Arctic from oil development.

In 2014, Miho embarked on a film tour by bicycle, from Seattle to San Francisco, called “1,000 Miles for 1,000 Allies”. In 2015, she repeated the tour, this time from Washington, DC, to Bar Harbor, Maine, and this summer she rode the equivalent distance of the entire coast of Maine. Rooted in a spirit of “If She Can Do It, You Can Too,” the tour was designed to show the world that one woman, one bicycle and one film can make a difference in this movement. On the tour, the initiative conveyed the message of the following:

Promote adventures that are founded on social change, activism and justice

Encourage outdoor experience that benefits not only the adventurer but also the community that faces environmental challenges and the society at large

Advocate for reducing carbon footprint when recreating

Target different community and interest groups to form a strong public support for the Refuge outside of typical conservation crowds

Break down stereotypes of women in the outdoors

Challenge a social norm by role modeling that women are capable to go on adventures by themselves and solve problems on their way

NON-PROFIT LEADERSHIP

Synopsis: In January 2015, as calls to transfer or sell America’s public lands migrated from the fringe to the mainstream conversation, the TRCP launched its multi-pronged Sportsmen’s Access campaign to organize sportsmen and women in fierce opposition to public lands threats. As part of the campaign, they initiated a non-branded, coalition-backed microsite, www.sportsmensaccess.org, to provide background on the issue and house a running petition. For each signature, letters are sent to federal, state and local elected leaders reaffirming sportsmen support for public lands and opposing their sale or transfer. To date, that petition has been signed by more than 54,000 sportsmen, generating almost 500,000 letters to public officials. The site also features a white board video narrated by hunting celebrity Randy Newberg, printable resources on how transfer would affect nine specific states, a general land transfer fact sheet, and statements of local decision-maker support (including from Western county commissioners). Content and photos from the TRCP’s social media campaign, #publiclandsproud, are also featured on the site.

Synopsis: Latino Conservation Week (LCW) is an opportunity for Latinos and all who want to join in to demonstrate their passion for getting outdoors and serving as stewards of our nation’s public lands. For organizations, churches, parks, government agencies and others, LCW is an opportunity to create events and activities designed to engage Latinos and provide access to stewardship opportunities.

Since 2014, close to 20,000 people have participated in 180 events (including volunteer cleanups, educational events, roundtable discussions, film screenings, fishing, mountain biking and whale watching) in 17 states from Massachusetts to California, visiting public lands and waterways—most for the first time. The event engages churches and other community groups to build new partnerships with land and water agencies, which in turn helps participants demonstrate their passion for public lands.

PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT INNOVATION

Synopsis: In 2016, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) convened the Executive Summit Coalition: a group of leaders representing 30+ organizations from across the outdoor industry spectrum. The objective of the group, which included representatives from recreation, industry, land trust, conservation, sportsmen/women, and land management organizations and agencies (federal, state and local), was to share perspectives on how to best balance outdoor recreation and sustainable management of wildlife in Colorado.

The Executive Summit Coalition is CPW’s initial effort to apply the SHIFT Principles to tangible and meaningful efforts to advance shared conservation and outdoor recreation priorities among a comprehensive stakeholder group that is inclusive of all sectors (rock climbing, mountain biking, OHV, hunting, land trust, stewardship/volunteers, etc.). The group has since renamed itself the Colorado Outdoor Partnership to reflect the long-term commitment the coalition has made toward working for the future of Colorado’s people, wildlife and landscapes. Their Partners in the Outdoors Conference brings together over 400 individuals from 100+ organizations to network, collaborate and participate in professional development sessions on current issues pertinent to outdoor recreation and conservation.